Jazz Bass Thumb Anchor Technique

[Sanctum]

I was following another thread about anchoring thumbs on pickups vs. free floating playing. Well, I've always been an anchored player. Usually when I practice alone, I anchor on the neck pickup - consequently I've always jammed and played live that way. However, recently, and I don't even know why, I moved my hand to the bridge pickup for support and it just sounds better (with my current band anyhow.) I have my pan set dead center using both pickups. Its weird too cause I still like the sound better at neck if I'm just practicing alone.

Greg

[SuperDuck]

One thing that a lot of people find out pretty quickly is that, when talking about tone, what sounds great soloed doesn't cut it in a group setting. By anchoring over the bridge pickup, you're giving your tone the ability to cut through the mix better. You probably dig it because you can hear it more.

[Sanctum]

I actually found the opposite to be true. When I anchor on the neck pickup, I seem to get more mids which cut through. The bridge pickup seems to give me a more "mellow" mix of tones, that just seems to work with my current band. Its not about hearing stuff, cause my rig is quite loud

Greg

[SuperDuck]

Wacky. Sound is in the ear of the beholder, I suppose.

[Pacman]

Originally posted by DiN
I actually found the opposite to be true. When I anchor on the neck pickup, I seem to get more mids which cut through. The bridge pickup seems to give me a more "mellow" mix of tones, that just seems to work with my current band. Its not about hearing stuff, cause my rig is quite loud

Greg

I've found the same thing to be true. Additionally, I find the sound supports the band better. But I tend to move everywhere, rather instictively, to change tone...

[RaijohAUlik]

I anchor on the E-string with my thumb, about half-way between either pickup.

[Chris Brodowski]

I float my thumb - even though I'm just learning now, keeping my thumb in one spot is uncomfortable for me.